1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for reducing battery consumption when a data packet necessary to identify a network connection status is periodically transmitted in a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for decreasing the number of bearer connections and thus for reducing battery consumption in the portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the rapid development of portable terminals, a mobile phone providing wireless voice call and data exchange is regarded as personal necessity of life. Conventional portable terminals have generally been regarded as portable devices providing wireless calls. However, along with technical advances and introduction of the wireless Internet, portable terminals are now used for many purposes in addition to telephone calls or schedule management. For example, images can be captured by using a digital camera included in a portable terminal. Further, the portable terminal provides a variety of functions that has made such devices become a source of many types of entertainment, such as watching a satellite broadcasting program, games, remote controlling using near field communication, a user position tracking, etc.
When an instant messenger, a push e-mail client, or the like is installed, the portable terminal periodically transmits a keep-alive packet called a “heartbeat” to a server, even if a specific service is not being used, and thus reports that the terminal is connected for a specific service.
That is, when a program for at least one the aforementioned services is installed, the portable terminal operates whereby a heartbeat or a ping message is periodically transmitted to the server to report that the terminal is connected to an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Thus, upon receiving the heartbeat message, the server regards that the portable terminal is connected to the IP network during a time interval included in the message.
The aforementioned method of operation can be summarized as follows.
First, the portable terminal transmits the heartbeat or ping message to the server to report that the terminal is connected to the network. When transmitting the message, the portable terminal allows the message to include predicted time information indicating a time at which the terminal can be connected again to the network. Accordingly, the server transmits a response to the heartbeat or ping message from the portable after the elapse of the time information (i.e., the predicted time).
If a problem (e.g., gateway, proxy, packet loss, and the like) occurs on the network, and thus the response from the server is not transmitted to the portable terminal, the portable terminal then determines that the predicted time is too long, and thus transmits another heartbeat including information of a shortened time to the server. That is, the portable terminal performs a process of shortening the predicted time until a response is received from the server.
Thereafter, if the response to the message is received from the server, the portable terminal performs a process of periodically transmitting the heartbeat message to the server while maintaining the predicted time interval.
The portable terminal also performs a bearer connection, which provides the capability for information transfer between access points and the characteristics of which can be negotiated and renegotiated at a connection establishment and during an ongoing session, even in an idle situation where no traffic exists, and thereafter transmits the heartbeat message to the server. As a result, instantaneous current consumption occurs in the portable terminal, and thus when the heartbeat message is transmitted periodically by the portable terminal, battery consumption increases. Accordingly, there is a problem in that the operation time of the portable terminal is shortened due to decreased battery consumption.